Planning a Trip to Cuba? Visa-Free Entry to U.S. May Be Denied for Some Travelers

Although South Korea and Cuba have established diplomatic relations, the absence of direct flights and other obstacles suggest that it will take some time before tourism between the two countries is fully activated.

According to the travel industry, major domestic travel agencies in South Korea do not operate package tours exclusively for Cuba. For tourism to flourish, it’s crucial to have flights connecting the two countries, but there are no direct flights between South Korea and Cuba yet.

Domestic travel agencies used to sell tour packages to Cuba but have not resumed sales since they were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, approximately 14,000 South Koreans visited Cuba annually.

The restriction on individuals with a history of entering Cuba from the U.S. without a visa poses a potential obstacle to activating tourism between the two countries. The U.S. government has designated Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Since January 2021, anyone who has visited Cuba can be denied entry into the U.S. through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

If a person has a history of visiting Cuba, they must go through an interview process to obtain a visa, which takes longer and costs more than visa-free entry. Recently, travel YouTuber KwakTube shared on a broadcast the difficulties of going through an interview process at the U.S. Embassy to obtain a visa to enter the U.S. after traveling to Cuba.

South Korea and Cuba established official diplomatic relations on the 14th (local time) by exchanging diplomatic notes between their representatives to the UN. Cuba, a communist state, has been referred to as a “brother country” of North Korea. It has never established diplomatic relations with South Korea. The presidential office evaluated this establishment of diplomatic relations as the “final version of diplomacy against the socialist bloc, including the former Eastern bloc countries that were friendly nations of North Korea.”